

INDIANS OF THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST 17 
The most striking object is the great Haida Canoe 
in the center of the hall with its party of Chilkat Indians 
celebrating the rite of the “ potlatch.”” The 
potlatch is the great “ giving ceremony,” 
common to all the coast tribes, when Individuals and 
families gladly impoverish themselves that the dead 
may be honored, the emblem of the clan exalted and 
social standing recognized or increased, while under- 
lying the potlatch as a social function is a deep reli- 
gious fervor in the worship of ancestry and communion 
with the dead. At the stern of the canoe, which is 
represented as approaching the beach, stands the chief 
or “medicine man,” who directs the ceremony. The 
canoe is a huge dugout made from a single tree, is 64 
feet long and 8 feet wide and capable of carrying 40 men. 
Against the pillars and walls of the hall are many 
house posts and totem poles with their 
grotesque carvings; the latter may repre- 
sent either the coat of arms or family tree, or they 
may illustrate some story or legend connected with the 
family. The Haida Indians together with the Tlingit 
are recognized as superior to the other Indian tribes 
along the Northwest Coast of North America. They 
are divided into a number of families with various 
crests for each family and grouped into two main divi- 
sions, the Ravens and the Eagles. The 
Tlingit are makers of the famous Chilkat 
blankets, of which the Museum possesses 
an exceptionally fine collection. Among some of the 
other tribes there is little wool weaving, the clothing 
consisting of shredded and softened inner tree bark 
braided and matted together. The Indians of this 
region are preéminently a woodworking people, as is 
manifest in the exhibit. Religious ceremonies and the 
wearing of masks generally supposed to 
aid the shaman or priest in curing dis- 
ease, were customary among most of the 
tribes. The masks represented guardian spirits and by 
wearing them the shaman impersonated these spirits. 
Haida Canoe 
bd 
Totem Poles 
Chiikat 
Blankets 
Religious 
Ceremonies 
The north end of the hall is devoted to Eskimo col- 
lections. The cases on the right show the manner of 
dress, method of transportation, etc., also cooking 

Modern totem pole 
at Wrangel, Alaska. 
Many totem _ poles 
are huge cedar car- 
vings so old that the 
Indians themselves 
have forgotten their 
meaning 
